MONTREAL — Quebec’s Human Rights Commission is urging the province to act against systemic racism and says the majority of recommendations it made in a 2011 report have never been implemented.
That report studied profiling and systemic discrimination experienced by racialized youth aged between 14 and 25 in their encounters with public security, education and youth protection representatives.
While some bodies have attempted to introduce measures to address the problem, the commission says initiatives have been limited and sporadic.
The Legault government has been steadfast in its position that while racism does exist in Quebec, systemic racism does not.
That’s at odds with the commission, which has repeatedly pointed to examples of systemic racism and called for a policy to fight it.
Philippe-Andre Tessier, head of the commission, says the recommendations today have been sent to an anti-racism task force Premier Francois Legault created in June.
Tessier says he’s hopeful there will be movement given the global mobilization around the issue this year and the provincial task force’s mandate to act quickly.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2020.
The Canadian Press
